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UNFATHOMABLESEPARATION

Region: Europe Concept: Loss Sub-concepts: Separation, Individuality Description: The Separation is a short stop-motion film by Robert Morgan about two Siamese twins who were separated during their youth. As they grow old, they grow apart, but a part of them knows that they belong with each other; even more so, they are a part of each other. This is an uncanny, violent piece that takes the concept of “loss of self” to another level (watch under your own discretion). A perfectly executed representation of how losing part of ourselves can become an unbearable thing; it becomes unfathomable, it burns deep down in the gut to the point where breathing becomes troublesome. The twins are forcefully separated even though they were happy being a part of each other; when this happens they turn disoriented, because they have been forced to consider themselves different individuals (when in fact they are not). This in many ways is a metaphor for how we are forced to live our lives, suppressing dimensions of who we are and creating a distinction between the I and the It. This is why, in spite of their distance, the thought of being connected again haunts them. At night, they still ache over the fact that they are not one. The physical pain from the stab wounds is a way of relieving the psychological pain of the loss and reopening the wound is a sign of wanting to reconnect; this only proves how excruciating the separation is. The process of trying to stitch themselves together is the helpless effort of trying to reconnect to that part that they have lost; the attempt is visceral and ultimately ineffective. Nonetheless, the fact that they were willing to endure the physical pain to alleviate the pain of their loss is significant. Thus the double destroys. Regardless of this, there is a need to cling to that part of us that is virtually dead. This death is not fully acknowledged; it is not considered absolute, which makes the loss fragile, vulnerable. In the film, the other part is still taken care of, only as an effort to go back to the primal state of a united being; this state of unity is portrayed by a fetus with two heads and only one body. The grotesque image is a representation of why we still care for something that is supposed to be dead: because deep down we know the loss is weak and that there is still a possibility that the other will come back to turn us into the monstrous being we were meant to be. http://www.cultofweird.com/art/robert-morgan-separation/ Mónica Quirós